{"id":1626,"date":"2013-12-04T16:02:05","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T00:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=1626"},"modified":"2016-04-12T15:27:31","modified_gmt":"2016-04-12T22:27:31","slug":"spark-guru-keeps-vintage-british-race-cars-sparking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/spark-guru-keeps-vintage-british-race-cars-sparking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right Distributor Keeps Vintage British Race Cars Sparking"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Five
Five distributors after the rebuilding and upgrading process<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you are running a vintage British car on this historic racing circuit and running the original Lucas ignition system, chances are pretty good you\u2019re going to bump into Jeff Schlemmer and his company Advanced Distributors<\/a>\u00a0somewhere along the line.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Schlemmer\u2019s first distributor rebuild was done on a Delco distributor from a \u201967 Camaro. That was back in high school when he used to get his assignments done ahead of the rest of the class and play with an old distributor testing machine stored in the back of his high school auto shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shop teacher didn’t know much about the old Sun machine, except that it wasn\u2019t functional.\u201d Jeff recalls. He repaired the tester\u2019s strobe light and used it to re-curve the Camaro distributor with the help of a Hot Rod<\/em> magazine article. Since then, he\u2019s been tuning every car he\u2019s owned \u2014 plus many more owned by his customers. Working on British car ignition systems is his specialty.<\/p>\n

As you know, a car\u2019s distributor sends the flow of high-voltage electricity from the coil to each of the engine\u2019s cylinders. The electricity moves from the coil, through the high-tension center wire, to the center tower on the distributor cap. Inside the distributor cap is a rotating contact (rotor) that transfers the pulse from the center tower to one of the spark plug contacts inside the cap. The cables connected to each contact carry the voltage to the spark plugs. As the rotor spins, it hits each successive contact, firing one cylinder, then the next one.<\/p>\n

The sparking action must speed up \u2014 or be advanced \u2014 as the engine runs faster. Older distributors use weights to advance the spark. Vacuum-type distributors use engine vacuum to speed the spark. Later cars adopted transistorized or electronic ignitions, often with computers controlling advance.<\/p>\n

Distributors suffer mechanical wear or electrical failures like shorts and loose wires. Parts can freeze up from rust or break from abuse. Oil, dirt and moisture can cause additional problems. There are some NOS (new old stock) distributors available for classic cars, but they are hard to find. Luckily, most distributors can be rebuilt, unless they are damaged or weathered beyond repair.<\/p>\n

Schlemmer does only first-class distributor rebuilds. \u201cEvery distributor we rebuild is disassembled, cleaned and glass-bead blasted,\u201d he told The Burnout<\/em>. \u201cThen, it is inspected for wear. After we fully assess the problems, we contact the car owner with a list of necessary and optional repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Repairs to an older points-type distributor can include polishing the distributor\u2019s shaft and the cam lobes that force the contact points to open. \u201cWe seal or lubricate any parts that may rust,\u201d Jeff pointed out. \u201cWe also reduce end play in the main shaft and cam assembly to closer-than-factory tolerances.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Schlemmer, in a good rebuild, the advance weight pivots will be repaired as needed. \u201cWe grind the weight stops so that both weights seat at the same time,\u201d said Jeff. \u201cThe seat stops are often misplaced in the initial assembly procedure, which alters the distributor\u2019s amount of total advance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlemmer pointed out that shops with the proper knowledge and equipment can test a shaft for run-out and straighten it if it tests bad. He recommends replacing ground wires and terminal block wires whenever needed. \u201cWhen the advance assembly is held together with a clip, this can be a problem,\u201d said Schlemmer. \u201cIt\u2019s possible to modify the shaft so the whole assembly can be retained with a screw. This allows adjustment of any excessive end-play. \u201c<\/p>\n

A rebuilder should be able to re-curve a distributor to either its original advance curve or to optional high-performance specifications, says Schlemmer, He uses a Sun 680 distributor tester or a Snap-On Distrib-U-Scope tester for this. \u201cIt makes me feel young,\u201d he says. \u201cIt takes me back to my high school days.\u201d<\/p>\n